The present invention relates to a system for providing laser radiation for medical or surgical applications.
A number of surgical techniques employing laser radiation have been developed, such as cutting or cauterizing tissues. Various laser beam manipulator devices having been employed as surgical scalpels as illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,113 to Sharon et al. Photo-coagulating devices employing a laser have been employed to effect coagulation in a portion of a patient's eye. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,835 to Koester et al. Laser optical devices, known in the art, may also include provisions for operation under a microscope to perform microsurgery. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,814 to Togo. These various techniques have created a need for medical laser systems having varied power levels and peripheral attachments, so that a single laser may be used in performing these various techniques.
It is necessary to precisely control the amount of laser radiation delivered to biological tissues in photo-surgical procedures. The appropriate amount of radiation is known to vary with the technique employed. Systems have been developed to control the intensity and duration of the laser radiation energy applied to the treated tissues. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,694 to Isakov et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,853 to Smith. Systems such as the Smith system rely on exposure control devices such as shutters and laser power level control circuits.
The difficulty of controlling the amount of laser radiation delivered to tissues is aggravated when various peripheral devices, having varying optical properties and power requirements are used in the same system. Moreover, the optical properties and power requirements of a single tool may gradually change due to wear, debris build-up, etc.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide surgical laser system and technique for identifying and calibrating various interchangeable peripheral surgical devices before use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide surgical laser systems and techniques, having interlocks to inhibit the use of uncalibrated surgical devices.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control system for a surgical laser for producing appropriately selected laser radiation dosages from various surgical devices, the radiation being derived from a single laser radiation source.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a surgical laser system having a power beam and aiming beam controlled by a calibrated attenuation system and derived from a single laser radiation source.
It is another object of the present invention to provide displays of calculated system energy output levels based on readings obtained from an interlocked calibration system.
These and other objects and features will be apparent from this written description and appended drawings.